I woke up around 5 am on Friday morning and played madrichim trying to wake up all my friends. of course most people were like "noo lets just sleep instead" but after a lot of work I got everyone up and we stumbled over to the bus stop.
we hit the road on a big coach bus and a tiny little mini bus behind it which had some be'er sheva kids on it as well. 20 minutes out of telaviv on the highway and you can already see mountains. beautiful.
the girl i sat next to on the first part of the bus ride turned out to be a full academic year student at hebrew u from u of i!
the second half of the ride ( i got moved from the mini bus onto the big bus) I found out that the girl I was sitting next to (who lives 2 floors above me) has a cousin who dated my stepbrother. the girl in front of us goes to umiami with elle. then i found out one of the guys sitting next to us is from ohio, going to school at indiana - his friend from home is one of my good friends at school and his sister was my staff on pilgrimage!
i know this has little to do with my trip but it actually has everything to do with it.
we went RTVing first which was quite an ordeal; as you had to pair up and they were running low. since i don't have an ID anymore I made my friend drive me, which wound up working out great since I could take pictures the whole time. we took this dirty little jeep - not even an rtv- that couldnt make it over 40 miles an hour but it was just fast enough to feel the wind. since it was early in the morning in febuary, it was a really pale blue sky and mountain view and none of the shrubs we drove through had leaves on it yet. it was really wintery-prety but i bet it would be gorgeous in the summer. we were going up and down hills and cliffs throughout the golan mts. there was a point where u could look out and see lebanon on one side and israel on the other.
the whole ride there and back took an hour and we packed it up to go on the longest cable car ride in israel.
alot of people were afraid of heights but after a steep cable car ride up, we were taken to a fun zipline. a journey down probably took 12 seconds and the israelis tend to strap you in and send you off before there was even time to turn back. it was pretty big body rush but not that exhilirating. the best part was at the end of the hill, they cram about 12 people into a little army truck and treck you back up the mountain - at 70 miles an hour! our jeep was flying over rocks, cliffs; scenery way more intense than the atving experience and the poor girls at the end of the truck were legit falling out of the car. they kept screaming for the car to slow down so they could stick their bodies back in but we were all leaning backward from the incline. mt bikers were goin down beside us and im pretty sure the driver didnt even watch the road. it was awsome.
then the jeff seidel people took us to a delicious kosher meal. food was waiting for us on tables when we arrived and we shoved it down quickly - salads, pita, hummus, chicken kabas, chicken salad, it was so good! one of the staff members started walking around offering vodka and whiskey to people with their orange juice. we ate so fast so they could take us to the hotel on the kinneret.
the trip was basically a shabbaton but all the service parts were optional. i roomed with 2 girls in the other dorm who i have alot of mutual friends with and next door were my 2 good friends from the dorm, samara and shira and samara's friends from home who go to hebrew u. we were in the hostel area but it was certainly nicer than our dorms! a full shower and bathroom, a mini fridge area and 2 beds and diff kind of pull out couches.
we decided to go to kabbalat shabbat anyway and got dressedup. of course we look out our back porch window and allour guy friends who are rooming right across from us are outside taking shots before services with the madrichim! haha thats how the orthodox lure you in. well it certainly made it a merry shabbat and even the most stubburn people got up and danced. kabbalat shabbat was outside and the sun was setting over the kinneret right in front of us. after we had like a 7 course dinner with all the students who came on the trip and a bunch of israeli/american families. everyone gave speeches and told stories adn somehow even i wound up standing up saying something and everyone told me how much they liked it after.
there was neverending maccabi beer and wine...really never ending and of couse people snuck some coke and wine back with them.
after a long fun dinner we changed and walked to the beach. the hotel was right on the kinneret and a huge group of us sat on the rocks overlooking the water, half the size it should have been. we turned on an ipod and the whole horizon was black, black sky, black water, the only lights were the town of i think tiberias across the water in the hills. it was really pretty and we tried to take pictures but it was too hard. we turnd on the ipod and made random friends with people staying at the hostel and it was so chill and beautiful. AND we went to bed early without even realizing it! AND we slept in late..
around 11 we got up for lunch which was another huge 7 course meal and believe it or not, they started up with the wine and beer again. everyone looked at the people like they were crazy. we took baby naps and hung out at the beach by the kinneret. it was really foggy and everything was outlines in light hues of blue. i talked to the staff people about upcoming trip ideas - since its really since a great deal to go on these. we were talkin about football or basketball games, shooting ranges, etc. one of them is 22 and married to a beautiful 20 year old girl - they look so much older! its ridiculous. it was fun to be part of the shabbaton but definitly wary of believes that just aren't my own.
then of course a small dinner (seriously i think i ate in 2 days the amt i had eaten the entire week before!) we had akabbalat shabbat and they packed everyone up and sent us along our respective buses with beer and wine. haha.
its funny cuz its been so long since i did a jewish trip like this and it felt alot more like wheels or camp than college - which feels so long ago. but it was really fun. the only differnece of course, is that all the rules were gone! they sent us on a bus home by ourselves! we could have hijacked it - done anything! there were no rules - they were just our peers. ha it was awsome havign that kind of shabbat since it felt like more of a community than a learning experience or a mandatory program. we were just hanging with them instead of being their guest. that was pretty neat. i guess i like this jeff seidel for now. alot of people dindt like the religious aspect..but im used to it.
ha i also snuck back a blanket and pillow from the hostel! im using the blanket to cushion my bed.
ulpan started back up today at 830 am and i feel like i bonded alot with the poeple who went on the trip - like we have something in common now. after class my roomate jenn and i made a list of cool places around tlv to go to next time were feeling bored. samara, myself and another friend went to another jeff seidel sponsored program tonight - its called"dollars for learning" and at the end of the semester they count as many events u go to and write u a check. its 2x a week - split btwn mens/ womens and its juts a discussion. tonight this women had this huge kosher chinese meal brought in and we learned how to find bugs in fruit and ate 15 diff kinds of fruit for tu bshvat. wed is like coffee and cake and we write down topics and just like discuss them. i dont think ill go all the time but its def nice, free good food and $ for it!! the people were so nice too
tuesday is election day in israel adn we dont have school. me and samara and a couple other dorm friends are goin to jersualem after class and staying overnight. i think were gonna go out, go to the kotel, maybe the kinneset, ben yehedua street, etc. im excited - its been so long!! my roomates and some other people are taking a bus down to eilat and a tour of petra, jordan on tuesday. i think it sounds awesome and def something i wanna do - but im kind of excited to see election day in israel and hope i can make it down there another time! still alittle nervewracking - idk if u guys heard about the guy who got stabbed the other day in Jlem..he was jst a studyabroader asking for directions. everyone tells us not to get in taxis with arab drivers - bt sometimes its hard to tell when one is or not!
well back to hw...pictures comin soon!!
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